Bradley is impressing his new manager so far.
Taj Bradley is starting to look like the pitcher the Minnesota Twins hoped they were getting when they traded for him last summer. And his manager is noticing every bit of it.
Bradley turned in another dominant outing on Tuesday night, holding the Detroit Tigers to just one run on six hits across 6 1/3 innings while striking out 10 and walking nobody in a 4-2 win at Target Field.
It was his third start of the season and his third win, and it moved the Twins to 5-6 on the year while dropping the Tigers to 4-7.
Shelton Sees a Pitcher Who Trusts the Plan
After the game, manager Derek Shelton pointed to something beyond the stat line.
What stood out was the way Bradley carried himself against a dangerous lineup.
"Confidence continues to grow. Not only for us, but for him," Shelton said. "To be able to go through that lineup, in our division, go toe-to-toe with Skubal, did not show any signs that he tried to do more than he should have. And he executed pitches."
Bradley was not out there trying to overpower everyone or nibble at the edges against a lineup that features back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal on the other side of the ball.
He trusted his stuff, mixed his splitter and cutter with a fastball that touched triple digits, and let the results come to him.
The Tigers could not figure him out, and the standing ovation he received walking off the mound in the seventh told the story.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Through three starts in 2026, Bradley has been one of the best pitchers in baseball and he owns a 2-0 record with a 1.08 ERA, 22 strikeouts and just four walks across 16 2/3 innings.
The Twins are 3-0 in his starts, and Tuesday's outing was his best yet.
What really makes this run even more impressive is the context, considering the Twins acquired Bradley from the Tampa Bay Rays for reliever Griffin Jax at last year's trade deadline.
He had always shown top-of-the-rotation stuff during his time with the Rays, but he could never quite put it all together over a full stretch.
An offseason spent refining his splitter and buying into Minnesota's pitching plan has changed that, and the early returns have been special.
A Statement Win in the Division
Bradley went head-to-head with Skubal, who entered the night as one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, and he flat-out outdueled him.
Skubal lasted just 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits in what became a rare short outing for the two-time Cy Young winner.
Ryan Jeffers provided the offensive spark with a pair of RBIs, and Josh Bell drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double in the fifth.
The Twins' bullpen handled the rest from there, with Justin Topa picking up his first save.
Minnesota still has a long way to go at 5-6, and nobody is crowning them just yet.
But Shelton's words about Bradley hit on something that pointed to the bigger picture with him.
The young right-hander is giving this team a reason to believe every time he takes the ball.